Using Cellphones as Boarding Passes
The Times is reporting that airlines will soon allow flyers to use their cell phones as boarding passes by displaying a two-dimensional bar code on device screens.
As mobile devices become more sophisticated and applications for smaller screens evolve, airlines expect passengers will be able to use their phones, BlackBerrys and other mobile devices for a growing number of services, like rebooking a ticket after a missed connection, switching seats, checking standby status or seeking an upgrade."We kind of like the idea long term of having a kiosk in your pocket," said Mark Bergsrud, senior vice president for marketing programs and distribution with Continental.
Paper Is Out, Cellphones Are In [NYTimes via Crunchgear]
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So now, the TERRORISTS are going to start using their cell phones as boarding passes too, which means the TSA is going to start confiscating cell phones because they can be used for terrorism.
The chilling part is that, when I started writing this, I thought I was satirizing, but by the time I got to then of the paragraph, it didn't feel like satire anymore.
WestJet in Canada has had this in operation for several months already.
"We kind of like the idea long term of having a kiosk in your pocket," said Mark Bergsrud, senior vice president for marketing programs and distribution with Continental.
...of course they do. Kiosk in my pocket = less kiosks for Continental to buy.
Beeeecause no-one has yet figured out how to remotely tap into and access the contents of someone's cellphone, via the cellular network or via the ubiquitous and of-course-highly-secure Bluetooth protocol, right?
When they ask if anyone else has had access to your baggage, they need not worry whether anyone else has had access to your mobile device / cell phone.
It is with only a tinge of irony that I ask: "Papers, please".
I tried to do this with Fandango, holding an iPhone up at a movie theater box office, and the dude just rolled his eyes at me.
"Is that a kiosk in your pocket, or are you glad to see me?"
Chiltern Trains in the UK also use this system currently. They have readers at a coupl of their ticket barriers at Marylebone Station in London... although apparently the ticket checker on the train didn't really know what to do with it
Theoretically speaking, if I use my cameraphone to take a snapshot of someone else's paper boarding pass, then beat that person to the head of the security line, who gets on the plane?
re #8:
"who gets on the plane?"
Answer: The person with positive ID.
It's a BOARDING PASS - not ID.
And chances are that your "snapshot" is not going to scan worth a damn.
Uh, already doing this in Japan for some time now.
Been in use in Japan since 2006
Other cell phone uses - actually popular and in use, not theoretical: train passes, vending machine 'cash' and 'cash' at certain retailers especially in the travel sector.
Air Canada has also been doing this for some time.